Team Spirit
by ilovetvalot
Summary: What happens when Erin Strauss forces two members of the BAU to participate in inter-agency comraderie? Hotch/Prentiss.


_**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has been patiently waiting for our stories to be posted. We appreciate your support and apologize for any delays. Real life, however, has taken precedence! We always want to be able to provide you with quality stories and chapters, so our postings may be a bit sporadic over the next month.**_

_**Please...check out our new forum topic: A Fanfic Glossary! We want to know if you guys find it helpful and our topic thread "Our Stance on the 2010 Criminal Minds Fanfic Awards". We have also opened a Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior thread where you may discuss the show (respectfully, of course). We also have a forum announcing our fellow author's (Kathi1C) new IheartCriminalMinds blog. You can ask her questions and get directions on going to her site.**_

_**As always, we do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters that we so enjoy writing. If we did own them, we would have never had JJ leave!**_

**

* * *

****Team Spirit**

_**PYOP Challenge Prompt: Hotch/Prentiss; Character A and Character B play a friendly (?) game of badminton**_

It was official. If today had been any indication, she was obviously under the curse of some voodoo doctor from some faraway place only ever described in National Geographic.

She was going to kill Erin Strauss for this.

Of all the humiliating crap that Satanic she-devil had put her and her unit through, this topped it. Being shoved into an entirely too short tennis skirt, forced to join the game with Aaron Hotchner, and pushed onto a badminton court…all for the supposed purpose of building inter-team relations?

Stupid!

And to top it off, she'd been paired with that letch Hart Compton from Counter-Terrorism. If that little rodent checked out her assets one more time when she bent over, it was going to take more than a mere proctologist to remove her racket from his ass. The Bureau didn't have adequate insurance coverage to deal with the retribution she was planning in her all-too-frazzled mind.

And worse than that...oh so much worse!...was watching her Unit Chief cum secret lover paired with Lindsey Hastings from Sex Crimes. That woman was a literal sex crime waiting to happen! Now the twit was giggling and whispering in Aaron's ear…and Emily watched his face flush crimson at something she'd said. And her Hotch didn't blush. Ever!

Serving the birdie viciously toward the vivacious redhead, she smiled as the red instrument bounced off the woman's forehead with surprising accuracy. The only way that shot could have been better is if it had embedded in her forehead, Emily thought with a vicious smile.

"Hey!" Lindsey yelled, rubbing her stinging skin.

"Head's up," Emily called out sweetly, forcing a bright and sunshiny smile on her face. "I believe that was our point."

"Bitch," Lindsey muttered, glaring at her as she bent to pick up the birdie with her talon-tipped fingers.

"What was that?" Emily asked politely, narrowing her eyes on the other woman before moving her warning gaze to Aaron and watching her shake his head in disgust slightly.

"Nice shot, Prentiss," Hart complimented from behind her, his sweaty palm connecting with her thigh for the fourth time in the last five minutes.

"Gee, thanks," Emily ground out, casually throwing out the arm holding her racket and connecting with Hart's groin as Hotch's eyes flashed across the net.

"I believe this is game point, right?" Hotch asked through barely moving lips, his eyes gleaming as they met Hart's obviously pain-filled ones across the net.

"Unless you'd like to play another round, Aaron," Lindsey smiled demurely, batting her long eyelashes at him.

"He wouldn't," Emily spat, no longer caring that she appeared territorial. "Some of us have actual case to work on."

"Ah, come on, Em," Hart grinned, draping an arm around her shoulder as he made a miraculous recovery. "Surely you could spare another hour to kick their asses with me again," he winked at her.

Shrugging off his arm before Aaron could dive over the net, Emily shook her head.

"Since I'm her superior," Hotch said stiffly, his hand tightening around his racket as he battled the urge to beat Compton to death with it, "I think not." Inter-department camaraderie be damned, if they didn't get off this court soon, someone wasn't going to live. And he was fairly certain he could win at any war that son of a bitch attempted to start.

"I forgot you worked for such a tight ass," Hart smirked at Hotch.

"No," Emily smiled, "He just happens to have a work _ethic_. Something some departments sadly _lack,_" she snapped as she glared at Lindsey. "Serve the damn bird, Hotch, so we can end this farce," Emily ordered as the other woman opened her mouth to reply.

"Gladly," Hotch bit out, tossing the birdie in the air and swinging viciously toward Hart.

The men lobbed the birdie back and forth vigorously for several minutes, both women watching in awe as their angry grunts rent the air as the visibly battled for superiority. And Emily would have let it continue all day...if not for the redheaded demon across the net.

Lindsey's mouth fairly salivated as her eyes were glued to Hotch's fluid muscles, and Emily knew without fail the bitch was making a mental meal of him. It was time to end this fucked-up exercise in inter-department acceptance, Emily told herself firmly, extending her leg just slightly as Hart lunged for the oncoming birdie, landing with a loud slam to the pavement that brought a grimace to even Emily's lips.

"Whoops," she cringed, offering a groaning Compton her hand as Lindsey's war cry echoed through the air. Glancing up, she watched Hotch take a step back as the redheaded tart threw herself toward him.

Smart man, Emily thought. She'd hate to have to send both members of the various departments back to their respective desks in traction. But she'd have no qualms doing just that if she was pushed just one more centimeter.

"Well," Aaron smiled tightly, sidestepping Lindsey with practiced ease. "I think we've fulfilled our Section Chief's requirement in spades. Emily, ready?" he asked, quickly ducking under the net to grab her elbow as Hart still writhed on the ground, cradling his calf.

"She nearly killed me," Hart gasped as he tried to pull up, only to fall once again to the court. "Twice!"

"Badminton is a dangerous sport," Emily acknowledged benignly as she smiled. Damn, she must remember to send Erin Strauss a thank you note for providing such amazing entertainment. "Maybe we should suggest scrabble next time," she said over her shoulder, breezing toward the door, her eyes never wavering or looking back, well aware that Aaron was just a few steps behind her.

And as Aaron Hotchner followed his beautiful colleague out the door, he grinned widely as he propped his racket on his shoulder. One thing was certain, Emily Prentiss could certainly take care of herself.

And him.

_**Finis**_


End file.
